Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, a new weekly discussion that searches for the truth about psychiatric prescription drugs and mental health care worldwide.

This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.

On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system.

Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking psychiatric care around the world.

This week, we interview
Dr. Terry Lynch who is a GP, psychotherapist,
author and mental health educator. Ten years into his career as a
GP, he became very concerned about the medical approach to
emotional and mental suffering and was not prepared to remain
silent. In 2001 he released the book Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental
Distress, a best-seller in Ireland in 2001 and shortlisted for the
MIND (UK) 2002 Book of the Year Award. Terry has worked tirelessly
to expose the myth of the chemical imbalance and other psychiatric
falsehoods. In 2015, he released The Depression Delusion: The Myth
of the Brain Chemical Imbalance. Dr. Lynch spoke to me and helped
me understand why modern psychiatry has pursued a purely medical
approach to distress with terrible consequences.

In this episode we
discuss:

How Dr. Lynch trained as a GP
but became disillusioned when he started comparing patient
experiences with his medical training.

How these experiences led to his
first book, Beyond Prozac; Healing mental distress, published in
2002.

How doctors are still justifying
treatment with psychiatric drugs based on the myth of the brain
chemical imbalance.

That there is no scientific
evidence whatsoever that there is any brain chemical imbalance, it
is a concept manufactured by the Pharmaceutical companies in order
to market their drugs.

That myths like the chemical
imbalance legitimise prescribing.

That there is no pathological
difference between the brain of someone who experiences mental
illness and the brain of someone who does not.

That there is no physical
diagnostic test that confirms a biological abnormality that would
explain mental illness.

How patients are told that an
antidepressant is like insulin for a diabetic but that this is also
completely untrue.

That it is unproven that
depression, bipolar disorder or the other psychiatric diagnoses are
brain disorders, there is no difference in pathology that would
result in these issues being classified as a brain
abnormality.

That psychiatric drugs can calm
people so they do have effects but patients are not able to make an
informed choice about their medications.

That much of what we are told is
fact by medical science is actually just a belief.

That we don't give enough
attention to emotional distress and trauma.

How the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual (DSM) the key diagnostic tool for psychiatry is
created.

The unnecessary focus on
medication distracts completely from a persons life and the issues
that have resulted in trauma or wounding.

That the term ‘depression’ isn't
very helpful because it reduces rich experiences to simple
diagnostic language.

The shocking fact that in the UK
we prescribed 63 million antidepressants in a single
year.

Dr. Lynch’s courses that help
people understand the true nature of depression, bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia and other psychiatric diagnoses.

When you take an antidepressant,
make sure you are fully informed, make you own
enquiries.

About the Podcast

Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, a new weekly discussion that searches for the truth about psychiatric prescription drugs and mental health care worldwide.
This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care and mental health. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.
On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system. Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking mental health around the world.
For more information visit madinamerica.com
To contact us email podcasts@madinamerica.com